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Looking at women and local government

Local government plays an important role in all our lives: it provides vital care and social services, influences economic development in our neighbourhoods and is a vital part of the UK’s democratic system.

Local councils spend around £95billion a year, and women make up over 75 per cent of the local government workforce, but even in 2016 only 33 per cent of local councillors, 19 per cent of elected mayors and 13 per cent of council leaders were women.

‘Local and Equal – does local government work for women?’ is a year-long commission set up by The Fawcett Society and the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) to answer this question.

The commission will seek to understand the barriers to equal representation in local government for women.

It will take a look at this issue and consider the particular experiences of women from a range of backgrounds, including black and minority ethnic (BAME) women, LGBT women and those with caring responsibilities.

In addition it will consider the impact of women’s under-representation on local decision-making and women’s wider engagement in local politics.

After examining the evidence and best practice on these issues it will make concrete proposals to ensure that local government really works for women.

The Commission will use a number of means to gather and test the evidence on this issue.

It will

1 – Hold evidence gathering sessions on issues facing women in local government including councillors, officers, leaders and devolution

2 – Consult the public: tell us if you think local government works for women or ask your local female councillor to give us their experiences of local government.

3 – Research: currently no organisation is responsible for finding out how many women councillors there are after each election so we are counting councillors to find out where and which party is best for women’s representation. A start has already been made – with the Northern Powerhouse – and so to read the report about women in the Northern Powerhouse, click here.

This will include gathering evidence about the diversity of women who are local councillors or who make it into the most senior positions and conducting interviews with female council leaders to find out what it is like to be a woman at the top.

Can you help gather evidence, stories, experiences, photos and views?

No matter if you only have a minute, an hour or a day to spare, there are lots of useful ways to get involved.

Got only one minute to spare?

Share social media posts with your followers making sure you include the hashtag #LocalandEqual

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